Archive · 24 Jan 2026
Kosovo detains 109 over election vote tampering
In Kosovo, 109 people were arrested because they might have changed votes in the recent election.
They were officials who count votes, and they might have taken bribes to help certain people win.
This happened in a few places, and it's a big problem because it makes people not trust the elections.
The election commission is counting all the votes again to make sure everything is fair.
Most of the people who might have benefited from the changed votes say they didn't do anything wrong.
This is embarrassing for Kosovo because they want to join the European Union and need to show they have fair elections.
109 people detained for allegedly tampering with votes in Kosovo's December 28 election.
Investigations revealed irregularities in multiple counting centers, leading to a full vote recount.
Suspects are election commissioners accused of switching votes between candidates on party lists, not between parties.
Officials from all four major parties are believed to be involved, with some taking bribes.
Recount so far has only changed one candidate's seat within the same party, with most accused denying wrongdoing.
- Who
- 109 election commissioners and officials from four major parties in Kosovo
- What
- Detained on suspicion of vote tampering in the December 28 election
- When
- January 23, with investigations starting two weeks prior
- Where
- Prizren, Kosovo, with similar arrests expected in other towns
- Why
- To alter votes to favor certain candidates on party lists, with some suspects taking bribes
- Number of detainees
- 109
- Date of election
- December 28
- Date of detentions
- January 23
- Location of detentions
- Prizren
- Type of election system
- Proportional representation
- Number of major parties involved
- 4
- Percentage of votes recounted so far
- More than half